Web-marking mechanism



May 23, 1939. c. D. KNOWLTON WEB-MARKING MECHANISM Filed July 20, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l M/E/VTUFL Wm (M @WZVL 421 1 424? Patented May 23,1939

UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE Application'lnly 20'. 19:7, sci-mm. 154.014

13 Claims.

This invention relates to mechanism by which there may be applied to a web, advancing through a machine for operations upon it, successive marks indicating that a definite length of web has been acted upon, and that there has been produced from such length a predetermined number of objects, for example, blanks from which boxes are to be set up.

In machines for making box-blanks, such as that disclosed in Letters Patent of the Unted States No. 1,988,451, Knowlton, January 22, 1935, various operations are performed upon web-material during its advance through a series of mechanisms, the operations including forming the web or webs, usually by elements carried by pairs of rolls, and subjecting said webs to the action of other rolls which simultaneously press plural layers of the web-material together and feed them forward. when the discrete blanks are delivered from the machine, it is convenient, for the purpose of bundling or otherwise arranging them in groups each containing a definite number of blanks, to mark in the webthe blankportions which correspond to the last of each group. This may be, for example, every twelfth. Then, when the completed blanks are gathered from the stack produced by the machine, the desired groups may be separated under the guidance of the marks without" further consideration.

" It is an object of this invention to arrange for the production of marks of the character above mentioned by simple and effective mecha- Y nism, which, preferably, though not necessarily, may be made a part of one of the operating mechanisms of the blank-making machine. With this end in view, I associate with rotatable rolls which contact continually with the work, as for the purpose of effecting its advance and combining plural webs, marking means carried wholly by the web-contacting rolls and movable into engagement with the web or webs and means carried by the rolls for actuating the marking means. There results a compact arrangement which does not materially increase the size of the machine and which introduces therein few added. elements. The marking means is preferably actuated by gears having intermeshing teeth and carried by the web-contacting rolls, together with that gearing ,by which rotation is transmitted from one roll to the other. This marker-actuating gearing, regardless of whether it is applied to operating rolls which are normally a part of the machine or to rolls introduced for the purpose of 55 counting the blanks, preferably includes a gear movable upon its roll and, by this movement, causing the actuation of the marking means. As herein disclosed, this movable gear has a cam mounted upon it, this cam operating the marking means. The movement of the marker-actu- 5 ating gear upon its roll is best efiected by the use of intermeshing gears having teeth differing in number. This results in said marker-actuating gear turning upon its roll at a rate different from that at which the roll rotates. By the employment of the proper gear-ratio, the actuating gear may be caused to so lag behind the roll in its rotation that after a deilnite number of turns, it will have been shifted through 360 to reach the position at which it gives the 1. marker-actuating eil'ect. Herein is shown a marking member movable longitudinally of its roll to engage and indent the edge of the webmaterial, while the member which actuates it has a revoluble cam carried by the gear movable upon the roll. The marking element may consist of a finger projecting from a slide movable upon one roll of a pair and arranged to enter a depression in the other.

In the accompanying drawings, a single embodiment of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 being a broken, transverse section through a pair of combining rolls of a blankmaking machine;

Fig. 2, a transverse section on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, an enlarged sectional detail on the line III--III of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4, a perspective view of a blank which has been marked by my-improved mechanism.

The invention is illustrated herein as combined with one of the operating mechanisms of the previously mentioned patent, this mechanism being one of those by which layers of web-material from which box-blanks are to be formed are pressed together or combined and, at the same time, are advanced through the machine for the forming operations. Of this mechanism, there are shown portions of a supporting frame in in which are journaled, with their axes horizontal, a lower web-supporting roll I! and an upper pressure-roll I, the latter being forced against the webs, appearing at W, by springs i6, it. The roll I! is rotated at the desired speed by bevelgearing Hi from a line-shaft 20. The upper roll I4 is driven at the same speed as the lower through a pair of equal-ratio gears 22 fast upon the respective roll-shafts. The webs W, as those of shell-material and lining or cover-paper with an interposed adhesive, are combined and fed 55 forward by these rolls. Under the influence of other mechanisms, not illustrated, the webs will be subjected to various forming operations to produce box-blanks joined in a series at their ends, the webs finally being successively cut along the meeting lines of the adjacent blanks to furnish separate completed blank B, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 4. A single blank passes between the rolls l2 and I4 during each complete rotation thereof. The severed blanks are commonly received upon their edges on a conveyor in a horizontal series, from which they are removed by the operator for bundling in groups, each containing the desired number of blanks.

Considering now the features more particularly concerned with the present invention for marking, for the operator's guidance, the blank terminating each group, the rolls I2 and l4 are shown as carrying two marking mechanisms M, M. These are arranged at the opposite ends of the rolls to produce indentations m, m in the outer edges of two of the corner-laps at opposite sides of the blanks. The two marking mechanisms may be identical, and therefore but one will be described in detail. Inserted in the periphery of the roll .l2 at one extremity is a dieblock 30 provided with a depression 32 extending longitudinally of the roll. Similarly carried by the roll l4 is'a guide-block 34, in which is movable longitudinally of the roll a slide 36. The slide is urged outwardly by a spring 38 to an extent permitted by contact of its angular end 40 with the inner extremity of the guide-block. The spring may be seated in a longitudinal bore in the roll, engaging the inner end of the slide. Fixed in some one of a longitudinal series of openings 4! through the outer face of the slide is a marking finger 42 having an end 44 of such thickness circumferentially of the roll that it will enter the depression 32 in the die-block. The finger and depression are so located upon their rolls that they come into registration during each revolution. Longltudinally of the roll l4, the finger-end 44 is somewhat extended to give a substantial marking effect.

At the end of the roll l2 outside the die-block 30 a gear 48 is secured, preferably for circumferential adjustment by slot-and-screw connections 50. Meshing with the gear 48 is a gear 52 carried upon the end of the roll l4 outside the guide-block 84. This gear 52 is arranged to rotate upon its roll, it having a bearing upon a hub-portion 54 and being retained against the end of the roll by a removable plate 56. The gears 48 and 52 are of different diameters and of unequal ratio, 52 preferably being the larger and having the greater number of teeth. In the present instance, the gear 48 has forty-four teeth and the gear 52, forty-eight teeth. The result of this is that as the rolls l2 and I4 rotate, the gear 48 turns the gear 52 upon its roll at a speed less than that of the rolls, the gear 52 lagging behind its roll to the angular extent of four teeth for each turn. The gear will consequently rotate through 360 upon the roll during the rotation of said roll through twelve complete turns. Upon the inner face of the gear 52 is a cam-projection 58 having, at its inner edge, inclined faces 58, diverging outwardly. These faces are so located that as the gear 52 turns about its axis, the leading face will engage the rounded end of the slide 36 and force this and the finger 42 inwardly against the spring 88, which then returns the slide to its normal position as member 42 may be varied to produce this movement accurately.

The action of my improved marking mechanism is as follows: The marking member 42 will be placed in such a one of the openings 46 that its end 44 will lie normally just outside the vertical I plane through the edge of the particular width of webs at that time being operated upon. As the rolls I2 and I4 rotate in their action upon the webs, the finger-end will register with and enter the die-depression 32 once during each rollrotation. On account of its position longitudinally of the roll and the circumferential relation to its slide 38 to the cam-projection 58, the finger will remain inactive until twelve blanks have passed, following the preceding actuation. Then the cam, in the differential rotation of the gear 52 upon its roll, will reach the slide as the fingerend approaches the depression, shifting it inwardly. This causes the finger to assume a position in which it will engage the web at a point which may, for example, lie in what will become an edge of a corner-lap of the blank, forcing the blank-material into the depression to produce an indentation m. Thus, when separated from the web, every blank terminating a series predetermined as to number will bear an identifying mark. The operator may therefore, without counting, take uniform groups of the blanks from those delivered from the machine and dispose of these in the desired manner.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for operating upon webmaterial, rotatable rolls having surfaces for continued contact with opposite sides of the web, marking means carried by one of the rolls and projecting outside its web-contacting surface, said marking means being movable into engagement with the web, and means carried wholly by the web-contacting rolls for actuating the marking means.

2. In a machine for operating upon webmaterial, rotatable rolls having surfaces for continued contact with opposite sides of the web, marking means carried by one of the rolls and projecting outside its web-contacting surface, said marking means being movable into engagement with the web, and gears provided with intermeshing teeth and carried by the respective web-contacting rolls, one of said gears having from its side a projection which is movable into contact with the marking means for actuating the marking means.

3. In a machine for operating upon webmaterial, rotatable web-advancing rolls, marking means carried by the rolls and movable into engagement with the web, gearing carried by the rolls and through which rotation is transmitted from one roll to the other, and gears provided with intermeshing teeth and carried by the respective web-advancing rolls, such gears having means for actuating the marking means.

4- Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rolls for co-operation with the web, marking means carried by the rolls and movable into engagement with the web, a pair of intermeshing gears transmitting the rotation 01' one roll to the other, a second pair of intermeshing geads carried by the rolls, one 01' the last-mentioned gears being rotatable upon its roll, and means for transmitting movement from such rotatable gear to the marking means.

5. Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rotatable rolls for contact with the web, a marking member movable upon one roll, gears carried by the respective rolls and meshing with each other, said gears having a different number of teeth, one of the gears being rotatable upon its roll, and means carried by such rotatable gear for moving the marking member.

6. Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rotatable rolls for co-operation with the web, a marking member movable longitudinally of one roll from a point outside the edge of the web, and means for moving the member into indenting engagement with the edge of the web.

'7. Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rotatable rolls ior co-operation with the web, a marking member movable longitudinally of one roll from a point outside the edge of the web, and a member revoluble circumferentially oi the roll for moving the marking member into indenting engagement with the edge or the web.

8. Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rotatable rolls for co-operation with the web, one of said rolls being provided with a depression, a marking member entering the depression during the rotation of the rolls, said member being movable longitudinally of the depression, and means for imparting to the member this longitudinal movement.

9. Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rotatable rolls for co-operation with the web, one of said rolls being provided with a depression, a slide movable longitudinally of the other roll and having a finger entering the depression during the rotation of the rolls, and a cam revoluble upon the roll having the slide and contacting with said slide.

10. Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rotatable rolls for co-operation with the web, one of said rolls being provided with a depression, a slide movable longitudinally of the other roll and having a finger entering the depression during the rotation of the rolls, means arranged to mount the finger in different positions longitudinally of the slide, and a cam revoluble upon the roll having the slide and contacting with said slide.

11. Web-marking mechanism comprising -opposite rotatable rolls for co-operation with the web, one of said'rolls being provided with a depression, a slide movable longitudinally of the other roll and having a finger entering the depression during the rotation of the rolls, and intermeshing gears carried by the rolls, one of said gears being movable upon its roll and having a projection for contact with the slide.

Web-marking mechanism comprising opposite rotatable rolls for co-operation with the web, one 01' said rolls being provided with a depression, a slide movable longitudinally of the other roll and having a finger entering the depression during the rotation of the mils, and intermeshing gears carried by the rolls, one of said gears being movable upon its roll and having a projection for contact with the slide, the two gears having teeth differing in number.

13. In a machine for operating upon web-material, rotatable web-advancing rolls, marking means carried by the rolls and movable into engagement with the web, gearing carried by the rolls and through which rotation is transmitted from one roll to the other, and gears provided with intermeshing teeth diflering in number and carried by the respective web-advancing rolls, such gears having means for actuating the marking means.

CUTLER D. KNOWL'ION. 

